Armstrong did not come clean in the manner I had expected, reveals Oprah

Lance Armstrong admitted using performance-enhancing drugs in a TV interview to
be shown on Thursday.

The disgraced cyclist is said to have
confessed to doping in an interview with American chat show queen Oprah Winfrey.

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The confession: Lance Armstrong admitted doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey

Centre of attention: A delivery man waves to media after dropping a package at the home of Armstrong

She says the cyclist was 'forthcoming' as
she asked him in detail about doping allegations that followed him
throughout his seven Tour de France victories.

Speaking to CBS this morning about the 'intense and emotional' interview that took place in Austin, Texas, Oprah said: 'He did not come clean in the manner I expected, I was surprised.'

After years of bitter and forceful denials, he offered a simple 'I’m sorry'
to friends and colleagues and then admitted he used performance-enhancing drugs
during an extraordinary cycling career that included those seven Tour de France triumphs.

Armstrong confessed to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped
on Monday, just a couple of hours after an emotional apology to the staff at the
Livestrong charity he founded and was later forced to surrender.

Oprah added: 'Myself and the whole team were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers.

Prime time: Armstrong's interview with Oprah will be broadcast over two nights

'I think he answered my questions
satisfactorily. He was thoughtful and serious and had prepared himself
for this moment and at the end of it we were both pretty exhausted.

'I had a strategy and I went in prepared to have to dig and pull but he was very forthcoming with his answers.'

It was also revealed today that
Armstrong hinted to the fact the use of drugs within the sport is
widespread in a meeting with the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency
last month.

Armstrong is said to have spoken
openly to Travis Tygart about doping, claiming it was rampant in all
sports, especially NFL football, and that he was being singled out for
punishment.

Sources said that at the end of the
meeting, during which Tygart refused to soften Armstrong's lifetime ban
for what the agency called the 'most sophisticated doping programme on the
planet', he told him: 'You don't hold the keys to my redemption.

'There's one person who holds the keys to my redemption and that's me,' the source told the Wall Street Journal.

Emotional: Oprah was mesmerised and riveted by Armstrong's answers

The interview will air in two parts on Thursday and Friday, Oprah announced.

Winfrey said she had not
planned to address Armstrong's confession before the interview aired on
her OWN network but added: 'By the time I left Austin and landed in Chicago,
you all had already confirmed it'.

'So I'm sitting here now because it's already been confirmed.'

Winfrey said she did not trust putting the completed
interview over a satellite transmission, and so carried the tapes back with her
to her studio in her bag with dog food, where they will be turned into a
two-night special.

The revelation came after Armstrong visited the staff of his charity the Livestrong Foundation at the Texas offices to apologise for putting their work at risk.

Several employees cried when he told them: ‘I’m sorry.’

'He had a private conversation with the staff, who have done the important work of the foundation for many years,' Livestrong Foundation spokeswoman Katherine McLane was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Apology: Armstrong visited the staff of his charity the Livestrong Foundation

'It was a very sincere and heartfelt
expression of regret over any stress that they've suffered over the
course of the last few years as a result of the media attention,' she
added.

He promised he would try to restore
the foundation’s reputation - before meeting his legal team to prepare
for the Oprah interview.

Armstrong reportedly spoke to a room
full of about 100 staff members for about 20 minutes, expressing regret
for everything the controversy has put them through.

He told them how much the foundation
means to him and that he considers the people who work there to be like
members of his family. None of the people in the room challenged
Armstrong over his long denials of doping.

After the interview, Winfrey tweeted: 'Just wrapped with @lancearmstrong More than 2 1/2 hours. He came READY!'

Winfrey
and her crew planned on filming Monday's session at Armstrong's home.
As a result, local and international news crews were camped near the
cyclist's Spanish-style villa before dawn.

Armstrong
still managed to slip away for a run despite the crowds outside his
home. He returned by cutting through a neighbour's yard and hopping a
fence.

Shamed: Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour titles

Meanwhile, the government of South
Australia state said it will seek damages or compensation from Lance
Armstrong after his reported confession to Winfrey that he doped during
his career.

South
Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said the state would seek the repayment
of several million dollars in appearance fees paid to Armstrong for
competing in the Tour Down Under cycle race in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Weatherill
said reports Armstrong admitted doping during a recorded interview with
Winfrey changed the government's view on its entitlement to
compensation.

He said
Armstrong 'has deceived the cycling community around the world' by
repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs during a career
in which he won the Tour de France seven times.

'We'd be more than happy for Mr. Armstrong to make any repayment of monies to us,' Weatherill said.

Weatherill refused to say how much the
South Australian state government paid to Armstrong to secure his
participation in the ProTour race for three-straight years.

Armstrong chose the Australian cycle tour, the first event of the annual ProTour, to make his return to professional cycling in 2009 after a two-year retirement. He also made the six-stage road race his last professional race before his final retirement in 2011.

The South Australian government paid appearance fees to Armstrong to build the profile of the race and promote tourism. That effort was hugely successful and in each of the years the American competed, hundreds of thousands watched the race live and millions more saw it on television.

Armstrong has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and for a decade he strenuously denied doping and resorted to lawsuits to protect his reputation.

The publication of a damning 1,000-page report by the US Anti-Doping Agency, which placed Armstrong at the centre of what it called one of the most sophisticated doping operations in sport, has led to counter-suits against the rider.

Those who had been successfully sued by Armstrong, including the Sunday Times, are now seeking repayment of the damages they were forced to pay. Others are seeking repayment of sponsorships and prize money paid during Armstrong's career as the world's most famous professional cyclist.